TeacherCenteredvs.

LearnerCenteredTeachingStyle
Learner centered" is the perspective which focuses on the learners experiences, perspectives, backgrounds, talents, interests,
capacities, and needs. It creates a learning environment conducive to learning and promotes the highest levels of motivation, learning,
and achievement for all learners (McCombs & Whisler, 1997, p. 9). Weimer (2002) proposed five areas that needed to change in order
to achieve learner-centered teaching. These areas are: the choice of content, the instructors role, responsibility for learning, the
process of assessment, and the power relationship between teacher and learners. Students needed to have ownership of their own
learning, contribute to the design of curriculum, and the responsibility for some levels for instruction. Similarly, Bain (2004) identified
several traits of instructors who employ learner-centered instruction. Among these characteristics are that instructors touch the lives of
theirs students, they place a strong emphasis on student learning and outcomes by using varied forms of assessment, and the effect on
career goals.
Huba and Freed (2000) described teacher-centered learning as: students passively receive information, emphasis is on acquisition of
knowledge, and teachers role is to be primary information giver and primary and evaluator. There is no room for students personal
growth. Liu, Qiao and Liu (2006) reports that while learner-centered language teaching has been advocated in higher education in
recent years, teacher-centered teaching styles may be still dominant in actual practice. Results of their study show that most instructors
still use traditional, teacher-centered styles in university settings despite the call for a paradigm shift to learner-centered ones.
Brown (2008) claimed that student-centered learning approach gives students ownership over their learning and helps them make
necessary decisions and value judgments about the relevance of the content and the methods of teaching to their own lives and
interests. Wolk (2010) also reports that in student-centered learning, Students play a significant role in designing their own
curriculums. The teacher plays the role of a facilitator or guide who helps students achieve their goals. In their article Ng and Lai
(2012) presented an exploratory study that examined whether a wiki-based project could foster student-centered learning. They
concluded that wiki can facilitate student-centered activities. The article by Hannum and McCombs (2008) describe how LearnerCentered Psychological Principles (LCPs) can be used to define not only new design principles for distance learning but also a new
educational paradigm. Saulnier, Landry, and Wagner (2008) concluded in their study that learner-centered approach contributed to the
construction of educational activities and provided for greater student learning and a more authentic student assessment.
Findings of Walsh and Vandiver (2007) study indicated that students performed better academically because they had a say in what
they learned, and the teachers only acted as facilitators in order to allow the students to learn actively. Wohlfarth, and et.al (2008)
examined the idea that the learner-centered paradigm departs from traditional teaching models by focusing on students more than
teachers and learning more than teaching. Graduate students in learner-centered classrooms were surveyed about perceptions of their
experiences in relation to the key dimensions of the learner-centered paradigm and noted that the approach contributed to their feeling
respected as learners, developed their critical thinking skills, and encouraged their self-directedness. The overall findings, graduate
students in learning-centered classrooms agreed that their classroom experiences were indeed learner-centered, as described by
Weimer (2002). Furthermore, qualitative data collected, in the form of student quotes, strongly supported the move to a learnercentered paradigm as a positive shift. From the review of literature, the present study attempted to identify the teaching style of
education instructors at a Midwestern University in the U.S. The Methodology of the study will be discussed below.
Conclusion
Thefirstimplicationofthisexploratorystudyistorecommendthatfurtherresearchwithalargersampletobeconducted.Identifying
educationinstructorsteachingstyleswillmakethemawareofthetypeofteachingstyletheyemployintheirclassrooms.This
awarenesscanmakethemmodifyorimproveontheirpractice.Thiswillinturnhelpheirstudentslearnbetterandbecomeactive
participantsintheteachinglearningexchange.Inaddition,theycanprovidetheirstudentswithamodelofgoodpractice.Findingsof
thisstudycorrespondwithagrowingbodyofresearchwhichemphasizesthefactthatlearnercenteredstyleisreplacingthetraditional
teachercenteredteachingstyle.Shiftingthefocusfromteachingtolearningandfromtheteachertothelearneristhecoreofthe
effectiveeducationalprocessandfulfillsDeweysvisionofempoweringthelearners.Thesefindingscanhelpeducationinstructors
provideaproperteachingmodel,alearnercenteredmodelwhichcanimproveteachereducationpreparationpractices.

Teachercenteredandstudentcenteredstylesofteachingaremodelsofclassroomeducation,withtheteachercenteredformatbeing
moretraditional whileastudentcenteredformatisnewer,moreprogressiveandmorecloselyassociatedwithotherprogressive
modelssuchascooperativelearning.Themostsignificantshifttowardstudentcenteredteachingcamein2001withthepassingofNo
ChildLeftBehind.Sincethen,studentcenteredteachinghasbecomethepreferredmethodforK12instruction.However,bothstyles
havebenefitsanddrawbacks.
FocusofAttention
Thetitlescommunicatethefocusshiftwell:studentcenteredteachingtakesthefocusofftheteacher'sdeliveryoflessonmaterialsand
placesitontheneedsofthestudent.Specifically,theneedsofindividualstudentsarestressedoverclassperformanceasawhole.
Studentcenteredmethodsencourageteacherstotakethetimetohelpeachstudentdeveloparichunderstandingofthesubject,andto
provideindividualattentiontostudentswholearndifferently,tohelpthemreachtheirgoals.Theoldstyleofteninvolvedsimply
movingontonewmaterialassoonasteachersfeelthey'vesufficientlycoveredtherequiredamountoftheold.
ClasroomAtmosphere
Thesetwoteachingmethodslendthemselvestoverydifferentclassroomsituations.Inateachercenteredlearningenvironment,you
canexpecttofindtheteacherlecturingwhilethestudentssitquietlyandtakenotes.Inastudentcenteredenvironment,however,
teachersencouragestudentstodrivediscussionsandactivitieswiththeirownideas,whiletheteacherguidesstudentstowardthegoal
ofthelesson.Studentcenteredenvironmentsdoabetterjobofhelpingstudentsapplythelessonstheylearn,alongwiththeteamwork
andcommunicationskillsrequiredtocompletetasks.Whatyouloseinthatenvironment,however,isapercentageoftheteacher's
expertise,becausetheteachernowhastospendmoretimemanagingthediscussionthanimpartingdirectacademicknowledge.
AcademicStandards
Oneofthestrengthsofteachercenteredinstructionarehighacademicstandardsanddedicationtotimetestedclassroompractices.For
example,inateachercentered,collegelevelcriticalreadingcourse,allstudentswouldlearnhowtowriteanexplication:ananalysis
ofatextthatexamineseachindividualword,andthatcitesspecificgrammaticaltechniquestoproveanargumentaboutthetext's
themes.Inastudentcenteredcriticalreadingcourse,youmightspendtimereadingmanydifferenttypesoftextssoyoucanbetter
questiontheaccepteddefinitionsofliterature,butneverlearnhowtowriteanexplication.Whenyoumovetoahigherlevelcourses,
youwouldhaveawellroundedunderstandingofliterature,butyou'dbeataseveredisadvantagewhenyou'reexpectedtowrite
explicationsformajorassignments.
StudentEngagement
Whilesomestudentsmightbecaptivatedbyaparticularteacherorlecturer,thestudentcenteredmethodpridesitselfonmaking
teachersfindnewwaystoengagestudentswithinthesubjectmaterialthroughhandsonexperienceandrichgroupactivities.Ina
studentcenteredclassroom,studentsoftenworkinteams,andevenifthey'renotparticularlyinterestedinthesubjectmatter,their
assignedroleswithintheirteamswillkeepthembusyandtheirthoughtsoccupied.